Sight + Sound Bites: Inherited Retinal Conditions: Current Treatments and Future Research

José-Alain Sahel, MD, Boris Rosin, MD, PhD, and Morgan Brzozowski, MS, LCGC, speak about inherited retinal conditions.

Dr. José-Alain Sahel is the Distinguished Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School/University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Eye & Ear Foundation Endowed Chair. He has expanded the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh, launching breakthrough trials and developing new models of care around a new translational Vision Institute with a strong focus on vision restoration (optic nerve regeneration, prosthetics, neuroprotection, and optogenetics). Dr. Sahel has published over 700 peer-reviewed articles and co-authored over 90 patents. He has co-founded a dozen start-up companies and has garnered many awards, the most recent being The Future Vision Foundation Laureate Award in 2025 and The Wolf Prize in Medicine in 2024.

Dr. Boris Rosin is a physician-scientist who has served as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at UPMC since 2021. He is a vitreoretinal surgeon performing all types of vitreoretinal surgery and seeing all types of retinal patients; however, his main interest remains the field of IRDs. He is the PI of a laboratory dedicated to studying the visual signal processing in the CNS of various animal models of IRDs. He is the local PI of two observational studies exploring the natural history of IRDs. His lab collaborates with many laboratories at the Vision Institute, providing functional assessment of visual function and functional vision in animal models visual disorders. He continues a close collaboration with Dr. Sahel on research and publication topics related to IRDs. Dr. Rosin is a recipient of the Career Development Award by the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the largest non-profit dedicated to patient care and the development of treatments for IRDs.

Morgan R. Brzozowski, MS, LCGC, is a clinical genetic counselor who joined the Department of Ophthalmology at UPMC in June of 2023. Morgan graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.S. in Biology and Psychology and continued at the University of Pittsburgh and received her M.S. in Genetic Counseling. Her clinical work focuses on inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs), and she serves as a co-coordinator for the Retinal Dystrophy Consultative Services at the UPMC Vision Institute. She is passionate about expanding access to genetic counseling and testing to additional ophthalmic specialties through various service delivery models. Morgan’s professional interests include awareness of ocular genetic services and the evolving role of genetic counselors in the presence of gene therapy.

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